Innovation

Innovation at the core of our strategy

The printing paper market is evolving towards an all-digital era which is drastically changing consumer habits along with the expectations of our customers.

Sequana Group positions itself resolutely at the heart of this digital revolution and places innovation at the core of its strategy in order to anticipate and support the needs of its customers, with the ambition of being a source of progress.

Our approach relies on two major pillars: product innovation and added value, and reducing environmental footprint.

Creation of innovative, value-adding products

Innovation is intimately related to added value and a key factor in our businesses in order to boost the power of our brands, make a difference, and retain our customers’ loyalty over the long term.

It is imperative to be constantly on the look-out for market insights to design new products and new applications, whether in distribution or in production. Illustration with a few examples:

The Coala Range

The expansion of digital print technologies leads to changing uses and to the emergence of new markets, such as in the Visual Communication sector. In reply to such developments, Antalis has extended its Coala line dedicated to large-format printing to new products such as customisable wall paper for the interior design market.

The Alive range

A new generation of “smart” paper, combines a premium fine paper with PowerCoat®, a substrate for printed electronics introduced by Arjowiggins.

This product line opens up the way to multiple applications for the brands, such as connected business cards or interactive luxury packaging enabling the brands to communicate with consumers via their mobile devices.

Innovation and added value are not just limited to products, but also pertain to services

In this regard, Antalis offers a broad range of services and, in the context of its DNA (Deliver the New Antalis) programme, has already launched a number of initiatives to support its customers in their own development. For instance, in order to help its customers navigate the digital shift, Antalis has created the “d2b” (digital-to-business) programme to help them gain a better understanding of the digital sector by attending forums and seminars organised in partnership with major manufacturers of digital printers, finishing equipment or publishers of software solutions.

Mitigation of our environmental footprint

Innovating for the benefit of our customers also means supporting them in their sustainability approach and offering them products with a low environmental footprint, along with tools to help them choose the right eco-responsible level of products.

In this perspective, Antalis has developed its Green Star System designed to help its customers select environmentally friendly papers. This simple and innovative classification factors in the origin of raw materials and the manufacturing processes, and awards 1 to 5 stars to a product based on its level of eco-friendliness. A minimum rating of 3 stars is required for a product to be regarded as eco- responsible.

Apart from its unrivalled range of eco-friendly papers, Arjowiggins Graphic also provides its customers with an “eco-calculator” designed to measure the environmental impact of a document and estimate the savings in energy, water and CO2 emissions achieved by using recycled paper instead of virgin fibre-based paper.